Union romps BC, dashing Eagles' repeat hopes

Dejected BC players skate off the ice following a lopsided, 5-1
loss to Union in their East Regional semifinal matchup Saturday
night. (Dave Arnold Photography)

PROVIDENCE – It’s a long road to the
top, and the way back down tends to be a whole lot
shorter.

Boston College, the defending NCAA champion, saw
that in vivid detail Saturday night, falling 5-1 to a Union College
squad that outdid the reigning kings of college hockey in nearly
every facet of the game.

The Dutchmen scored three goals in the second
period – including two in a span of 25 seconds – to all
but run away from the Eagles, eventually taking a 5-0 lead before a
late Johnny Gaudreau goal ended Union goaltender Troy
Grosenick’s (29 saves) shutout bid. Josh Jooris had two
goals, including the eventual game-winner for Union, which advances
to an all-ECAC regional final against Quinnipiac (Sunday, 6:30
p.m.).

“It’s easy to sit here after a win
and say yes,” Union coach Rick Bennett said when asked if the
Dutchmen surprised even themselves with the victory. “Did we
think we were going to win this game 5-1? Probably not. But by the
same token we felt we stood a very good chance of beating them
tonight. This program’s had some pretty big wins over the
past few years, Michigan, Minnesota. Tonight was just another win
here for us.”

The loss ends the Eagles’ season at
22-12-4, and leaves the BC senior class wanting just a little bit
more after four very successful years at Chestnut Hill.

“We’ve been extremely fortunate with
the group I came in with,” said captain Pat Mullane
(Wallingford, Conn.), who along with Steven Whitney (Reading,
Mass.), Brooks Dyroff, Patrick Wey, Patch Alber and Parker Milner
collected two national titles, three Hockey East titles and four
Beanpots. “You can’t forget [early pro departures]
Chris Kreider, Brian Dumoulin and Philip Samuelsson. We feel like
the luckiest kids in the world to play for Boston College and Coach
[Jerry] York.”

York (Watertown, Mass.) ends the year with 935
career wins, the most of any college coach in history. Of course,
he would have liked a few more before summer.

“I thought we had to bury some
chances,” York said. “We had some good scoring
opportunities that didn’t go in the net for us – either
real good saves or some missed opportunities.”

Union became the fifth team this year to hang
five or more goals on BC – and the second in as many games
after Boston University’s 6-3 win in the Hockey East
semifinals. Their win ensures that this year will bring a
first-time national champion.

Josh Jooris put the Dutchmen on the board midway
through the first, one-timing a Kevin Sullivan feed from the left
wing faceoff circle to give the Dutchmen a power play goal and a
1-0 lead. But he wasn’t done.

Thirty-nine seconds into the second period,
Jooris made it 2-0 on another one-timer, this time from Wayne
Simpson (Boxborough, Mass.) during a 4-on-4. And just 25 seconds
later, fourth-line left winger Cole Ikkala ripped a wrister past
Milner (30 saves) for a 3-0 Dutchmen lead.

“The early 4-on-4 was a critical goal
against us,” York said. “We were getting ready to go on
a power play, and we never got to the power play situation before
they scored.”

It was clear in the second period that this BC
team was lacking the poise and confidence of some previous
editions. Union’s Matt Hatch took his second hooking call of
the frame with 4:14 to go, but BC’s Steven Whitney nullified
the power play with a hooking infraction of his own 43 seconds
later.

Shortly after Hatch was released to give the
Dutchmen an abbreviated power play, Shayne Gostisbehere delivered
the dagger with 1:44 to go in the second, firing from the high slot
to beat Milner and make it 4-0.

It didn’t get much better for the Eagles
in the third. Whitney, looking more like he lost his place on the
ice than anything, ran over Grosenick to give Union another power
play, and the Dutchmen cashed in again, with Daniel Ciampini
tipping a Greg Coburn feed over Milner’s shoulder for a 5-0
lead.

Perhaps the most surprising part of the Union
victory was the Dutchmen’s ability to shut down the
high-octane BC power play. The Eagles had seven power plays in the
game but came up empty, nullifying an element of their game that
has so often given them momentum.

“I thought we moved pucks well and had
some opportunities,” York said. “You can’t place
the puck in the net, it’s a result of a lot of good passing
plays – and we did that, we just couldn’t get the red
light on.”

Johnny Gaudreau got the Eagles on the board with
about four minutes to go, but at that point it was pretty clear
that the Eagles’ season was to end on a late Saturday night
in Providence. There’ll be plenty to remember from 2012-13
for the Eagles, who saw their coach become the winningest in the
history of the sport.

But they also suffered through injuries to
Alber, who only returned a few weeks ago after missing 20 games,
and Kevin Hayes, whose season ended prematurely due to surgery for
a leg contusion. Even York himself was hit by the injury bug,
wearing an eye patch Saturday to protect his surgically repaired
right eye.

“You hope at the beginning of the year
that no one’s going to get injured, but that’s pretty
unrealistic,” Mullane said. “Some years you get lucky
with a few injuries, other years you have more. We have to play the
cards we were dealt. If we’re missing key guys, we need to
find ways to win without them.”

The cards didn’t hold much for BC Saturday night,
and it was clear that Union had the better hand.